Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment at work is generally described by psychologists in terms of offensive, degrading, and/or harmful verbal or nonverbal behaviors that are of a sexual or gender-targeted nature. Various behaviors can be viewed as constituting sexual harassment. Examples include repeated requests for a romantic date despite rejection, belittling a person on the basis of his or her gender, and violent behaviors such as attempted or completed rape. While women are the more common victims of sexual harassment, men are occasionally harassed. In the cases of both female and male victims, men tend to be the most common perpetrators.

Sexual harassment is often viewed as a significant source of stress for victims. Indeed, victims [Page 1427]can experience various psychological, physical, and/or behavioral problems, many of which can ...